Bisola David
The governor of Ogun State, Dapo Abiodun, announced on Monday that the quarterly pension payment would be increased to N1 billion.
The Punch reported that the authorized sum was intended to reduce the state’s backlog of pension and gratuity arrears.
The governor made this statement at an interactive session with pensioners held on Monday at the June 12 Cultural Centre in Kuto, Abeokuta.
The governor claimed that his administration had met arrears of more than N80 billion and had since found methods to pay them.
He said, “When we arrived, there were almost N80 billion in pension arrears. We began paying N500m in increments. Then, we raised it to N600 million per month. We would not be where we are today if the previous administration had been making payments.
“I am expecting the federal government to pay us roughly N280 billion for the money we used to build federal highways.
The governor told the crowd, “I can assure you that as soon as I collect the money, I would pay between N10 and N18b as pensions and gratuities.
Abiodun revealed that from 2012 to the time he took office in 2019, no gratuity was paid.
Nonetheless, he promised a N15,000 increase for seniors who had previously received a N5,000 monthly pension, expressing concern about how people would make ends meet with such a meager sum of money during this difficult time.
He continued by saying that his administration had developed a number of strategies, such as providing the necessary security and infrastructure as well as creating an environment that would attract more investments and increase the state’s internal revenue.
The governor stated that while his administration was mindful of the situation of the senior citizens, a special provision had been created by the state government to care for pensioners who required immediate medical attention.
Thus, he begged for compassion and patience as the government worked to address their difficulties, promising to have such interactive meetings twice a year.
In his earlier remarks, State Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners, Alhaji Waheed Oloyede, urged the state government to raise the monthly pension for those still receiving N5,000, saying that the N600m quarterly payment for pension was insufficient to cover gratuities.
Oloyede demanded a frequent interaction between the pensioners and the state administration so that they could work together to resolve any upcoming problems, along with a review of the state’s pensions to bring them into line with what is possible at the federal level.
In a separate speech, the head of the Local Government Pensioners Association, Pastor Ademoye, praised the governor for paying attention to pensioner-related matters and pledged to support him at all times.
